Do you have a wall calendar?
Yeah, you probably do.
Maybe you bought it for yourself. Or you got it as a gift, either from a friend or from a business that uses calendars as marketing tools.
Where is your wall calendar right now? Is it in a box or drawer somewhere? Or is it hanging on a wall as decoration? Wherever it is, there’s a good chance you aren’t using it to its full potential. This is especially true if you use a calendar on your computer app or cell phone.
The wall calendar is one of the most neglected productivity tools. And that’s a shame because a simple wall calendar can help you keep track of appointments, deadlines and special events.
Wall calendars are cheap, too. If you get one as a gift, it won’t cost you a penny. But even if you buy one for five or ten dollars, that’s a small price to pay for something that can help you remember important dates for an entire year.
So have I sold you on the idea of using a wall calendar? If so, here are some tips that can help you get the most out of this classic time management tool.
1. Add Important Dates to Your Wall Calendar
By “important dates,” I mean things like:- Birthdays.
- Anniversaries.
- Appointments.
- School or work deadlines.
If there’s a date you don’t want to forget, add it to your wall calendar.
When adding a deadline, don’t just add the date when the project is due. It won’t do you much good if you look at your wall calendar on the sixth and see that the essay you haven’t started yet is due…on the sixth.
Estimate when you’ll need to start working on a project in order to get it done in time without a lot of fuss, muss or stress. Then add that start date to your wall calendar.
Try to add new events and deadlines to your calendar as soon as possible, so you don’t have time to forget them. In fact, you can set aside a little time at the end of each day to update your wall calendar.
2. Hang Your Wall Calendar in a Prominent Place
The problem with the calendars on your computer or cell phone is that you usually have to make a special effort to see them. If you want to look at your calendar, you have to open a calendar program.
Unfortunately, if you’re calendar isn’t visible, you just might forget you even need to check it.
A wall calendar is always visible. You don’t have to remind yourself to look at it, or make a special effort to open it up. It’s right there, hanging on the wall. If anything, you should have to make a special effort not to see your wall calendar.
Hang your wall calendar in a place where you spend a lot of time. If you spend a lot of time in your home office, hang the calendar next to your desk. If you spend a lot of time in the kitchen, hang the calendar next to your stove or sink.
Or, if you make a to-do list for yourself every morning, you might want to put the calendar in the place where you usually make up your list.
You should also try to hang your wall calendar at eye-level. So the minute you walk into a room or sit down at your desk, your calendar is right there in your line-of-sight.
3. Make Your Wall Calendar Easy to Get To and Update
Have you ever tried to write on a calendar while it’s hanging on the wall? If so, you know it can be a little awkward. But, depending on how you hung it up, taking the calendar down to update it can seem like more trouble than it’s worth.
So hang the calendar so that it’s easy to take down.
Most wall calendars have holes at the top of each page. If you’re like most people, you hang your calendar by pushing a thumbtack through the holes and into the wall. But removing the calendar means removing the thumbtack. Doing that once a month to turn to a new page is one thing. Doing that once or twice a day to add something new to your calendar is another story.
Instead, put a hook in the wall. To hang your calendar, just slide the holes over the hook. And, to remove the calendar, just do the same in reverse.
You’re more likely to use a time management tool if it’s relatively easy and hassle-free. So make updating your wall calendar as smooth and easy as possible.
4. Look at your wall calendar often.
Make a habit of looking at your wall calendar at least once a day.- Every morning, look at your calendar to remind yourself of what you have going on that day. This is also a good time to add any relevant tasks to your to-do list.
- If it’s a Monday morning, take a look at what you have coming up in the next week
- If it’s the first of the month, take note of what you’ve got going on in the next four or five weeks.
Giving your wall calendar a quick once over will only take 5 or 10 minutes. And it’s an easy way to make sure nothing falls through the cracks. In fact, checking your calendar at least once a day will help those important dates and deadlines stick in your mind, so you’re even less likely to forget them.
When it comes to productivity tools, you can’t get much simpler (or more low-tech) than a basic wall calendar. And it’s often the simplest tools that are the best at helping you stay organized and productive.
